Manas Acharaya. Telegraph picture

Paradip, March 1: A local court has pronounced a man guilty of sexually abusing two of his minor daughters and sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment.

Jagatsinghpur fast track court magistrate Madhumita Das convicted 40-year-old Manas Acharaya for his dastardly act.

The crime had triggered a public outcry in the port town last year.

On February 18, 2010, the marine wing of Paradip police had arrested Acharaya from his house in Nehru-Bangala slum.

A couple of days before his arrest, the accused had allegedly raped his two daughters who were about 11 and 12 years old. His wife was not present in the house when the incident occurred. Manas, who is a cab driver by profession, was allegedly drunk at that time.

The police stated in the chargesheet submitted to the court that the girls were physically assaulted and abused by their father.

The unsavoury episode came to light after the traumatised children brought it to the notice of their mother. She lodged an FIR against Manas.

“The convicted man was a rogue and was addicted to country liquor. He confessed to having committed the crime. He, however, showed no sign of repentance. A chronic alcoholic, Manas was also undergoing bouts of psychiatric disorder,” said Tezraj Patel, inspector of Paradip marine police station, who had investigated the case.

“It was an act of sexual perversion. It is described as psychosexual disorder in the terminology of mental health. Excessive alcohol intake, physiological problem, and other socio-cultural factors might have led him to commit such an act of perversion,” said Prabhu Kalyan Sahu, a psychiatrist at the Cuttack-based Mental Health Institute.